More Human Than Human
by The Notorious R
Summary: Arshes Stratholme and her family have just moved to Forks, WA after spending her whole life in Dallas, TX. What happens when this new coven collides head on with the very established Cullen family in this small, dreary town?
1. Mornings Ugh!

_**I do not own, or claim any right's to Twilight or any of it's characters. They belong to Stephenie Meyer. I just like to take them out of a box and play with them for a while.**_

Author's Notes: This is my very first fanfic, so hopefully it isn't too embarrassing.

The song for this chapter is _Through Glass_ by Stonesour  
_**  
**_

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_I'm looking at you through the glass  
Don't know how much time has passed  
Oh God it feels like forever  
But no one ever tells you that forever feels like home  
Sitting all alone inside your head  
_  
Mornings... Ugh!

I hate this time of day. Morning. Whoever came up with the bright idea of school starting at the ass-crack of dawn should be shot in the balls. I am not a morning person. It's not exactly like I sleep or anything, cause I don't, but I would be so much more content to spend my time in the perpetual darkness of night. Truth be told, I can't sleep. Not that I try and just can't fall asleep, but that I physically can not sleep. This fact does not upset me though. I love the night. Darkness soothes me; Comforts me. I could be perfectly happy if the sun decided to never rise again. *sigh* If only...

I looked at the small clock hanging on my wall to see that it is 6:52 AM. 'Time to act all bright-eyed and bushy tailed' I thought sarcastically to myself. Yeah. Like that would EVER happen.

I had been standing at the window of my average-sized, very cluttered bedroom. I did this a lot. Something about the idea of staring at the world through a pane of glass just seemed fitting to me. With a loud groan of disgust I turned around to head towards the door. My bedroom was pretty basic, for the most part. Square and boring. I had painted the walls jet black and the trim a blood red, my two favorite colors. There is a large red sofa on the wall to the right of the door. Across the room from the sofa is a large LCD TV hanging on the wall above a small black 3-drawer dresser. Next to the door sits a long desk with a very complex computer setup. The computer has 2 large flat screen monitors and large speakers. Next to the window is a 8 tiered CD shelf overflowing with music CDs. The door to the bathroom is right next to the sofa. Anywhere that there would be space along the walls are messy stacks of books and spirals. The walls are plastered with all sorts of band posters and pictures. Anyone who walked into this room could tell the occupant had a passion for music, as the most organized thing in the entire room was the CD rack.

I snatched up the small backpack that was sitting next to the door. At this point there was nothing but an empty binder in it, but I knew that to be short lived. Today was our first day at a new school. My... family, for lack of a better word, had just moved to Forks, Washington a week ago. Forks was a drastic change from our previous residence in Dallas, Texas. I desperately missed Dallas. I was born and raised there, tho I don't recall much of it before 24 years ago. Dallas was entrancing to me. Due to the constant sunshine, my family was forced to live most of our days in the confines of our large, 3-story home. I reveled in my nightlife. Being the music aficionado that I was, I spent a lot of that time at concerts and clubs. My favorite club was called "The Church". It was a sight to behold. On Thursday and Sunday nights "The Lizard Lounge" was transformed into a dark, gothic masquerade. It was the only place I had ever not felt out of place. During the day time hours when I was trapped by 4 walls I typically immersed myself into my music and online gaming. The idea of millions of people sitting behind computer monitors pretending to be elves and orcs and having magical abilities for hours on end was highly amusing to me. It helped pass the time rather nicely.

Unlike Dallas, Forks was dreary and wet. Forks saw very little sunshine, which was the main reason for my family moving here. They all had grown tired of having to live in the shadows. I almost had a coronary when Myra sat us all down and told us of the decision to move. I didn't speak to any of them for days, not that it shocked them. I rarely wasted my time with their conversation, with the exception of Sebastian. He is the only one in this ensemble that I can stand to be around for more than 3 minutes without bile raising up into my throat. He was a bit disturbed by my withdrawal from him in those days, but I just could not bring myself to acknowledge even him. Forks is a small town. No, small is an understatement. Forks is a single pixel on a massive graphic compared to Dallas. Leave it to me to describe things as only a true computer nerd would. Most of the families in Forks had lived here for generations. The high school we were to be attending was minuscule. It would prove difficult to stay out of any limelight, of this I was positive. People would soon learn it better to ignore me than to be inquisitive about me though, so I paid it no mind.

With my backpack strapped to me, I trudged out of my room and to the large staircase. My room was the only bedroom on the third floor. The only other space there was a large, den-like area that held another large LCD TV and a massive pool table.

I started down the staircase when a loud, piercingly high and tooth-achingly sweet voice called out "Well, good morning sunshine. I see you are in fine spirits as usual."

Sasha. I shuddered at hearing her statement. I absolutely loathed Sasha. She is the epitome of everything that makes my insides want to come spewing out of my mouth. Sasha is bright, cheerful, and bubbly. Totally the hyper, cheerleader type. A polar opposite of myself. She loved to do anything that would crawl under my skin. Since her merely speaking succeeded in that type of feeling, I made every effort to stay as far from her as I could.

"Wow Sasha, it's not often for you to not have a dick shoved so far in your mouth that you have the ability to speak. Are you feeling ill?" I turned around and scowled at her.

Her eyes tightened as she met my gaze. "My my, someone seems awfully bitter. It isn't my fault that you are so socially challenged that not even the president of the chess club would touch you with a ten-foot pole." She smirked.

Before I could let my temper get the best of me, I simply flipped her off and turned back down the stairs again.

When I walked into the large living area, I saw Sebastian leaning against the wall next to the front door. He was always the first ready to go. His eyes were shut, arms crossed over his chest, and his head tilted and resting on the wall. At the sound of my rustling clothes, he picked his head up and opened his eyes. He looked at me and grinned.

"Good morning, Arshes."

I chuckled humorlessly. "Well, you got part of that statement right. It's morning, but what the hell is so good about it?"

His grin deepened. "It's good for me. You're speaking to me again." I smiled vaguely at him. "Let's not get all Brady Bunch and shit about it. Okay?" He let out a small laugh at that. "Alright then. You ready to get this over with?" He asked. No, I wasn't in the slightest, but there was no getting around it. Myra and Lawrence had profusely insisted on holding up pretenses in Forks, and all but told me I was going to act like a normal 16 year old teenage girl without complaint. I sighed reluctantly and nodded. "No time like the present."

We shuffled out the front door to the driveway. In it sat 2 cars, both extremely different from the other. There would normally be 4 cars parked side by side, but obviously Myra and Lawrence had already left. The car to the right was a brand new bright pink Volkswagon Beetle. It had little white hearts sporadically painted all over it. The leather interior was a blinding bright white. A small single fake daisy sat in the little flower holder on the front console. It was so chipper and girly. It made me want to wretch just looking at it. Even Sasha's car screamed valley girl.

The car to the left was another story. The contours of it screamed ferocious and fast. It was a fully restored 1967 Shelby Mustang GT 500. It's body was painted the darkest, shiniest black with 2 fat blood red racing stripes down the middle. The interior mirrored the body, with black seats and red stripes down them. There was a very sophisticated sound system installed in the dash, complete with a small LCD screen sitting above it. The license plate on both ends read "RAVEN" on them. I walked up to it slowly, running my fingertips gently along the side until they found the door handle. This was my holy grail. "Hello sweetness" I murmured to myself. I opened the door and slid into the driver's seat. As I shut the door behind me, I slowly took a deep breath, tasting the scent of the car on my tongue. It was pure ecstasy.

"Shall I leave you two alone for a moment?" Sebastian was looking at me in amusement. I flashed my topaz eyes at him and gave him a wide, devious smirk.

"Get in the car, Jackass. We don't want to be late for our grand appearance in Hell now, do we?" He laughed and flopped into the passenger seat and closed the door easily. He knew better than to be too rough with my baby. I turned the key, and the beast roared to life with a menacing growl. I practically purred in delight at the sound. As I was pulling out of the driveway, I saw Sasha in my rear view mirror bouncing her way to the round pink nightmare. When she had just placed her hand to the handle to open it, I stomped on the gas pedal. My tires squealed as they spun, throwing mud and gravel all over Sasha and her pathetic excuse of transportation. As I was speeding off towards the main road, I could just barely see the rage in her eyes as she stood there, covered in sludge, screaming insults at my retreating tail end.

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TNR: So, what do you think? Review if you like, but please, be gentle!!!


	2. Stickshifts and Textbooks

_**Twilight and its characters sadly are not mine. They are belonging to Stephenie Meyer.**_

Author's Notes: The song for this chapter is _Psychosocial_ by Slipknot

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_And the reign will kill us all  
Throw ourselves against the wall  
But no-one else can see  
The preservation of the martyr in me  
_  
Stickshifts and Textbooks

Driving was as natural to me as breathing had once been. It was an escape from all the inane workings of the world. Despite the fact that my car could easily take this narrow, slick road at treacherous speeds with ease, I took my time and savored every minute. I had the stereo blasting at an ear-shattering volume. It didn't seem to phase Sebastian on bit. He sat calmly in his seat, his head resting on the headrest with eyes closed, nodding to the rhythm. A few years back I took Sebastian under my wing, so to speak, and educated him in the subject that was my world of musical taste. To my ecstatic surprise, he took to it feverishly. Seeing him look so content gave me a great satisfaction in that moment, which was a rather rare occurrence this early in the day.

Ahead in the distance, just off the highway, I spotted our destination. Forks High School. It was a gathering of red-bricked buildings. I pulled smoothly into the parking lot, scrutinizing the different vehicles parked in the rows. None of them were really intriguing. Mostly older models that were obvious hand-me-downs. I parked into a space far away from any other car. I was so not looking forward to having to behead some dick headed kid for scratching up Raven by carelessly smacking into her with their car door. I knew my actions would be futile though. The parking lot was small, and I was sure it would be filled once all the students had arrived. I switched off the motor, took my keys out of the ignition, and sat glowering at the red buildings. Sebastian gave me a concerned look. "You gonna make it?" He asked worriedly. "Sure. Piece of cake. I just relish in the opportunity to mingle with the very things that cause venom to pool in my mouth. It's the highlight of my existance!" I spat sarcastically. He frowned slightly at me, still obviously worried, then shrugged and opened his door.

"Come on, Arsh, maybe it won't be as bad as you are expecting."

I raised an eyebrow at him as he got out of the car. With a heavy sigh, I got out. As I was grabbing my bag and slinging it onto my back, a shiny silver Volvo sped to a halt in a parking spot 2 rows ahead of us. I paid little attention as 5 figures gracefully got out of the car. Sebastian had strolled over to my side and leaned gingerly by the hood of my baby. As I was about to shut the door and turn, my ears perked at the sound of someone mentioning my car. "... a Shelby being driven to Forks High? Must be the new kids." Great. Seemed that it was going to be utterly impossible to be ignored, as it was obvious that our arrival was expected. This day was going to be pure hell, I could sense it.

"No, 'Bastian, I think it is going to be EXACTLY as bad as I am expecting."

He looked at me quizzically, then finally noticed the hushed conversation going on ahead of us. No mere mortal would be able to hear it from this distance, but we were not mortals. He looked over to the retreating group, and then settled back on me.

"Just don't pay it any mind, Arsh. All the hoopla will die down once the luster has faded. You can continue wallowing in your pool of self-seclusion in no time!" He smiled genuinely.

His words made me giggle just a tad. He knew me far too well. I was concentrating hard on the other conversations surrounding the area, searching for any other proof that we were going to be the subject of conversation and chatter. I hadn't noticed that I had started to wander toward the school doors when Sebastian quietly cleared his throat to get my attention. I focused my eyes to his, snapping my head in his direction.

"Um... Arsh... Your car door is still open."

I thought on that for a portion of a second before turning my sights to the car. Suddenly, the door to my car quickly slammed shut, and the locks made a definite 'click'. I smiled triumphantly at the car, and turned back to Sebastian. He was eying me widely.

"Are you crazy?! What if someone saw that??"

He looked around, worry flush all over his features. He always hated when I used my... gift, in public. It was no secret amongst our kind that many possessed powers above the norm. Sadly, Sebastian did not have any such gifts. I, however, am a different story. From what I could remember of my mortal life, I was always very different than those around me. Much like now, I had a horrible temper. At times, when my temper got the best of me, it seemed as though things would happen, would move, if I willed them to. After becoming one with the damned, I learned quickly that I had the power of telekinesis. I could move objects with my mind. It could be quite entertaining at times, but more often than not it was getting me into trouble. When my temper flared, I had problems keeping it under control.

I gave Sebastian an amused look, and chuckled darkly. "So what if they did? If they are going to be talking about me anyway, may as well give them something juicy to discuss."

"Myra will slaughter you if she finds out, you know." He said unhappily.

I shrugged and continued walking towards the doors with Sebastian following at my side.

We entered the building with a sign hanging over head that stated "Front Office" and stood at the counter to get our schedules. A round woman with short red hair looked up from her desk and studied us briefly.

"May I help you?" She asked tentatively.

Sebastian knew to do the talking. My mouth would likely get us into heaps of trouble. "Hi. We're new here. Sebastian and Arshes Stratholme." He poked his thumb towards himself and then me as he stated this.

The woman, whose nameplate on her desk identified her as "Mrs. Cope", looked down at her papers and shuffled through them. "Ah, yes, here you are. These are your schedules. Do you need any help in finding your way around?" She placed the two sheets of paper on the counter in front of us.

Sebastian glanced at me quickly, and I gave a stiff shake of my head. "No, thank you. I think we can manage on our own." He smiled sweetly to her.

"Okay then," she said, "I hope you two enjoy it here in Forks."

I had to stifle a scoff. As if that was going to be possible. We both turned and exited thru the same door, and stopped just outside, each reading over our schedules. At first look, I was a bit baffled at the courses listed on mine, when I quickly realized I was holding Sebastian's instead of my own. I looked up at him, and he had the most puzzled look on his face. It was enough to make me laugh rudely at him, but I swallowed it down.

"What the... These aren't the classes I was expecting for a Junior in high school. They seem so... elementary." He frowned at the paper.

I rolled my eyes and snatched it from his fingers. Just as he was saying "Hey!..." in shock, I shoved his schedule into his chest. "That's because this is your schedule. You handed me the wrong one."

His eyes softened a bit, and eyed the paper I had given to him. A deep sigh of relief escaped his lips. "Oh! Well, this makes a lot more sense then." He smiled, and we started walking and discussing which classes we had close together. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my locker was the last at the end of one of the long hallways. Good. I wont have to deal with too many morons crowding me between classes. I was dreading having to leave Sebastian, but it was inevitable. With a heavy sigh, I told him "Well, I guess I will see you at lunch then." He nodded.

"Yup. Sure thing. And hey, try not bite anyones head off today, okay Arsh?" He patted my shoulder comfortingly.

I let out a loud _Ha! _and said, "I wouldn't hold your breath on that... not like it would hurt you though." He winked, and then turned to make his way to his first class.

My first class was English. Wonderful. Just what I look forward to start my day with. I strolled lazily to the classroom, and paused in the doorway to look around quickly. The room wasn't quite full yet, but the students that were standing around began to eye me questioningly. Quiet mummers of excitement trailed through my head, but I ignored it. I could really give a fuck less what they have to say about me. My eyes traced the room to the front where a large desk sat with what I assumed to be the teacher sitting at it. A walked to the desk, gave a small cough, and held my hand out to him with the schedule in it. He looked up at me from his papers and took my schedule.

He glanced at it quickly and said, "Ah Ms. Stratholme. Welcome. Here is a text for you," He handed me a hard covered book at this, "Go ahead and find an empty seat where ever you'd like."

He passed my schedule back to me and went back to his work. I turned around and looked over the room. My eyes fell on an empty desk at the farthest right-hand corner of the room. I swiftly made my way to it, scooted it back and up against the window on the wall, dropped my bag down next to it, and flopped down morosely. I could feel the stares of my classmates boring into my face. I sighed angerly and grabbed an earbud that was attached to my iPod out of my jacket's inner pocket and placed it into my left ear. I reached in and pressed the play button, closed my eyes, and waited rather impatiently for class to begin so that everyone would stop gaping at me like retarded fuckwads.

I chanced a peek after a few moments to notice a gangly boy staring at me, clearly disgruntled. He quickly darted his eyes away, and jerkily made his way to the opposite side of the room, taking the farthest seat back. It seemed I had taken his seat of choice, and upset him a great deal. This made me grin to myself. Maybe today wouldn't be quite as horrible as I had thought. Boy was I wrong. Dead wrong.

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TNR: Hmmmm, so far, so good for Arshes. But what will be in store for her as the day unfolds? Reviews are lovely!


	3. Hell Hath No Fury

_**I own a car and lots of DVDs. I do not own Twilight or any of it's characters. Stephenie Meyer does.**_

Author's Notes: The song for this chapter is _Only_ by Nine Inch Nails

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_Sometimes I think I can see right through myself  
Less concerned about fitting into the world  
Your world that is  
Cause it doesn't even matter anymore  
None of this really matters anymore_

_There is no You there is only Me  
There is no You there is only Me  
There is no fucking You  
There is only Me  
Only_

Hell Hath No Fury

The day continued in just about the same fashion. After English I had Algebra II followed by Economics. It is quite laughable for me to be in an Economics class. Our family has so many assets that we could live another 5000 years and barely put a scratch into them. It's expected when the matriarch of the family has lived for well over 400 years and came from a royal bloodline. There was no sense in me even paying a scrap of attention in Economics. As such, I placed an earbud into my left ear again and stared intently into the ceiling. So far I had managed to get to this moment without a single mishap or act of violence. I was pleasantly pleased with myself over this. I sat thinking about how the day had passed. I was able to catch a glimpse of Sebastian in the hallway between first and second period, and was even able to stop for a brief minute between second and third to say Hi and see how his morning was going. Of course he wouldn't have had any issues. He is a likable person. I was inwardly giggling to myself at the memory of a small freshman boy cowering away from me after he bumped into me at my locker and I glared at him, when there was a loud THUD on my desk. I casually looked down, expecting to see an angry teacher scowling at me for not paying attention. Instead a beefy, muscled up boy was smirking at me. He was sitting backwards in his chair, strattling it, with his massive fist resting on the top of my desk. I gazed at him incredulously. What the hell with this dudes problem? I glanced towards the chalkboard at the head of the class wondering why he wasn't being yelled at for not facing the front of the room when I realized the teacher was missing in action. Seems Mr. Chittick had a tendency to teach a little, give an assignment, then scurry away for most of his class periods, where to I couldn't be sure. I looked back at the boy staring at me and he smiled.

"S'up?" He asked, nodding his head upward a bit as he said it.

I immediately knew his type. Big, muscled, popular, Jock. One look at the _Forks High School_ football jersey he was wearing, number 17, just solidified my assumption. I could feel the bile start to rise up in my throat. I sat, staring at him without muttering a word. He looked at me for a moment longer and then chuckled.

"Hello? Can you speak? Or are you just meant to _look_ like a freak?"

He laughed heartily at his joke, as the lemmings around him followed suit. I grinned devilishly.

"Oh, yes, I do actually speak. Unfortunately for you, however, I am not fluent in _Imbecile_." I kept my grin plastered to my face.

The meat-head's face dropped. Clearly it wasn't often that he was put in his place.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?" His eyes were full of fury.

The sight of it just made my grin widen. "Oh, I suppose your hearing is just as inferior as your knowledge of the human language. How tragic."

His nostrils flared and his breaths began to hasten. "Listen here, _FREAK_! I get that you are new here and all, but I would sincerely suggest that you watch what the fuck you say to me. I would hate to see that pretty little Mustang of yours outside get defiled."

He chuckled as the grin I was wearing immediately disappeared. Did he seriously just threaten to harm my Raven? All I could see was red. I wanted to mangle him, right there and then. Just as my fists clenched and started to tremble, I noticed a couple of books on the bookshelf that sat directly next to meat-head's desk quiver slightly out of the corner of my eye. No one else would have seen it, the movement was far too slight. In an instant I unclenched my fists and started taking deep, soothing breaths to calm myself. _I can't let him get to me. I can't let my temper take over. Too many witnesses._

I chanted this over and over to myself in my head. The boy nodded and stated "Yeah, that's what I fucking thought. Watch yourself, freak." He laughed again as he turned back around in his chair and started comically gesturing things to the gang around him. I took notice to the room full of eyes staring in our direction. I darted my eyes down to my desktop and closed them, waiting anxiously for the bell to signal it was time for lunch. I desperately needed Sebastian to talk me down.

As soon as the bell screeched, I sprung from my desk and strode out the door probably a bit faster than I should have. I was _trying_ to act human after all. I could hear the obnoxious laughter of the morons in the room as i turned into the hallway and walked towards the cafeteria.

When I entered, I stepped off to the side as to not block the path, and scanned the room for Sebastian. I quickly found him at a round table near a corner in the back of the cafeteria. _Good Boy._ On the way over to him, I realized that I might need to get something to keep up the charade of being human. I noticed a large, fake tree standing next to the table Sebastian sat at and decided to grab a soda from the machines before I went to sit down. When I did, Sebastian could tell at once that something wasn't right.

"Alright woman. Spill it. What happened?" he said to me, folding his arms onto the table.

I sighed. "Some stuck up Muscle-Brain in Economics decided to screw with me. It's nothing, really."

He eyed me suspiciously.

"Don't get all huffy. Nothing happened. I swear it. I calmed myself down before i let it get out of hand."

He scrutinized my face for another few seconds, and then decided that I was being truthful and let the subject drop. I saw that he had probably the same idea as I had about "playing human" as he also had only a soda in front of him.

"So, meet anyone interesting? ...Besides the shit-for-brains in Economics." He smiled timidly at me, expecting my answer.

"No. Not that I am surprised. I did manage to scare the piss out of some mousy little boy in the hallway tho." I smiled widely.

"Well, that's not exactly a difficult feat for you now, is it?" he said, chuckling.

He of course made a few new acquaintances. He started to babble about it mindlessly, but I wasn't really paying attention. I began slowly tearing the label off my soda bottle. I glanced around the room, just to see Captian Fucknuts smirking as he strolled vainly over to our table.

He placed his hands on the back of the chair across from me and said "Oh, is this your little boyfriend, freak?"

Sebastian's whole body tensed. He wasn't one for confrontation. He wouldn't wuss out for one second if one of his family were truly threatened, but he wouldn't provoke it. I spared him a small glance before setting my sights back to the jock. My blood started to boil again. Sebastian was all too aware of my trembling hands pressing on the table top. His eyes got as large as dinner plates as he looked at me, pleadingly. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath.

Without opening them i spat out "Get the fuck away from me you buffoon."

He laughed loudly. "Ooooh, touchy touchy. If you weren't such a freak all that fiestiness might actually be a bit of fun." He said this while wiggling his eyebrows up and down. Sebastian had to put a firm hand on my leg to keep me in my seat. Still cackling like a bloated hyena, the boy shoved off from the chair and walked to another table and sat down.

I was seething with rage. My chest was heaving laboredly as i stewed in my seat.

"Relax, Arshes. He isn't worth your spit. Don't let him get to you." Sebastian whispered comfortingly in my ear. He squeezed my knee a little and sat back up. My breathing had slowed down, so he knew I was in control of myself again.

I looked back over to where the neanderthal was sitting, and I noticed an empty lunch tray sitting on the table right behind him. I laughed darkly and my eyes sparkled. Sebastian gaped at me with open mouth and began to say "What are you..." before his eyes met what I was staring at and gasped in horror.

"No. Are you fucking KIDDING ME? There are people - _everywhere_. Someone is BOUND to notice. I mean come _ON_ are you seriously gonna waste your energy on HIM?"

I looked at him from the corner of my eye and breathed "No one will know it was me. There isn't anyone even paying attention."

Before he could object again, I acted. With a slight squint of my eyes, the tray flew up from the table lightning fast and caught the jock with it's corner right in the nape of his neck. The tray landed with a loud crash on the floor. The boy shot up, rubbing the back of his head and bellowed "What the Fuck!!" at the top of his lungs. He twisted and turned to try and catch a glimpse of who his attacker had been, but only shocked and appalled faces met his. He stood up straight suddenly, still with his hand on his fat head, and spun around to glare in my direction. When he turned to see me sitting just where he had left me pretending to sip my soda, the funniest look of confusion crept across his face. I had to stifle a laugh. He traced his eyes down to his feet, then looked cautiously around at him, just noticing the still gawking crowd.

"Take a picture why don't you?!" he screamed. The cafeteria slowly began to fill with mangled conversations again. He sat back in his seat, fuming silently.

It was then that I noticed Sasha was sitting 2 seats down from him, staring daggers at my face. She seemed to be trying to say _'Are you insane or something?? Do you want us to get caught?_' with her eyes. I sent her a little wink. Her mouth dropped like she was going to scream at me, but a second later it snapped tightly shut. '_Just remember that I could have done a whole lot worse_' I thought.

At that exact moment I heard a distinct gasp that at first I thought came from Sebastian. I looked at him, about to ask him _'What's wrong with you? I didn't actually hurt him'_, but he was quietly doodling on one of his book covers. Boggled, I looked up from him and gazed straight across the room from me.

That's when I saw it. A pair of bright topaz-colored eyes, staring directly into mine, frozen wide with shock.

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TNR: Onoze!!!! What could this mean for the Stratholmes?? Throw me a few reviews and maybe I'll let you in on it! ^_^


	4. We Are Not Alone

_**Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. Not Me. I'm not that cool.**_

Author's Notes: The song for this chapter is _Forsaken_ by David Draiman

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_I hear it fading  
I can't speak it  
Or else you will dig my grave  
We fear them finding  
Always whining  
Take my hand now  
Be alive_

_You see I cannot be forsaken  
Because I'm not the only one  
We walk amongst you  
Feeding, raping  
Must we hide from everyone_

We Are Not Alone

**EPOV**

"So, anyone have any of the new kids in any of their classes yet?" Alice's sweet bell tone voice rang. She was always easily excited by fresh meat.

"Nah. Heard a couple rumors tho. Supposedly the youngest girl is a total freak." Emmett found this fact amusing as he spoke it. "Feels kind of odd not having that little title to ourselves anymore."

"Well, personally I find it all extremely interesting. I mean, how many small publishing company owners do YOU know that can afford to have a 3-story mansion built in less than 4 weeks? It's just all very hard to swallow if you ask me." Alice was talking ninety miles a second. She had a habit of getting that way. "They did move from Dallas, after all, so they could very well be drug dealers or something."

Emmett expelled a loud guffaw at her statement and interjected, "Well, why don't you go up to the little freaky one and ask her if you can score some dope to find out. That's her walking across there."

He pointed a finger in the direction across the cafeteria from where we were sitting.

The girl he pointed at was small, but not bony. She couldn't have been taller than 5 foot 5 inches or so. She had sleek jet black hair that hung board straight to just past her shoulders. Her skin was extremely pale. Pale enough to rival my siblings and me. At the angle she was facing, I could not see her eyes, but I did notice she wore very dark make-up. Her clothing was as black as her hair. Her pants had far more zippers than a pair of pants needed on them, and a pair of cloth straps hung from the hips of them and were attached to the sides at the knees. She had a tight black shirt covering her chest. On her feet were a pair of dark blood red Doc Martins. I could easily see why everyone was refering to her as "The Freak". She looked very out of place.

Alice emitted a loud huff.

"Right, Emmett. That would just clear everything right up, wouldn't it?" He chuckled at her as she stuck her tiny tongue out at him.

I was only mildly paying attention to them as they prattled along. As per usual, I was sitting off to the side picking at my uneaten food. Everyone seemed abuzz about the new additions to the student body. Two girls, one a Sophomore and the other a senior, and one Junior boy. The Stratholmes. Their parents had just moved them here from Dallas the prior week. It was said that Mr. and Mrs. Stratholme were the owners of a successful, if small, publishing company. When the chance to expand and open another office came up, they packed everything up and moved to Forks, the bane of my existence. I'll never understand why they decided to have the new office located in Port Angeles instead of just taking it all the way to Seattle. Maybe they had grown tired of living in a large city. I couldn't be sure, and I simply could not find it in me to be interested enough to investigate further. The world outside of myself and my family help very little of my attention.

_'Getting anything juicy out of them, Edward?'_ Alice's thoughts drummed in my head. I lifted my eyes to the girl and boy sitting across the room from us and listened for a short moment.

_'Shit. She's pissed off. I wonder what the fuck happened in Economics. She was just fine right before when...'_

_'... I mean, just who the hell does he think he is? How DARE he presume to threaten Raven like that. Of all the low down dirty... '_

I honestly had no idea what she was referring to when she thought of this "Raven", but it really meant very little to me.

"No. The girl is pissed about something. Nothing of dire importance though." She slumped into her chair looking disappointed.

She leaned back onto Jasper's shoulder as he continued to play with a strand of her short, cropped black hair. Rosalie was silent as usual, looking at herself in her compact mirror. To everyone else, we were the 5 adopted children of Dr. and Mrs, Carlisle Cullen. You could hardly call us children though. We may have _looked_ to be between the ages of 17 and 19, but that was all camouflage. I myself had been frozen at the age of 17 for 90 years. There are many names for us, depending on your belief system. Cold Ones, Pishachas, Blood Drinkers, ... but the most well known noun to describe us is acknowledged by most of the human race. _Vampires._ It really is quite the charade we were pulling when you get down to it. A coven of vampires living amongst humans without the slightest bit of intrigue. Humans naturally shied away from us. It made everything all too easy.

For a lack of anything better to do, I slowly swung my head around to look around the room. Nothing seemed to be out of place. I did notice a tall, slender girl with long, straight, and shockingly red hair sitting at a table in the middle of the room. She was speaking animatedly to some of the other girls from our school. The self-deemed "popular crowd". This must be the third new addition. If I was being honest, the girl was quite stunning in her beauty. She even rivaled Rosalie in her looks. Her skin was pale and smooth, and contrasted perfectly with her crimson hair. She didn't look to feel awkward or inhibited by being a new student. She acted as if she had gone here for years.

_'Ugh. I can not BELIEVE that girl thinks she looks good in that outfit. It totally makes her ass look huge. And who still thinks Dooney & Burke is in style? That is totally last...'_

I forced myself to drown her thoughts out of my head. Any and all attraction to her was squashed quickly by her vain mind. This brought a smirk to my face, as it reminded me oh so much of my blonde haired sister.

"What's so funny, Edward? What'd we miss?" Jasper was looking at me questioningly. He knew i was internally laughing. He could taste the humor in my mood.

"I was just thinking of how our dear little Rosalie may just have some competition when it comes to the most beautiful girl in Forks High. The new senior girl has the self-centered attitude to go right along with it just like her." Everyone at the table choked and laughed, except for Rosalie. 

_'Drop dead, ass-wipe.'_ She thought bitterly.

I stifled another laugh as I noticed her eying the new girl and scowling. Rosalie was too predictable.

_'Awwww, it looks like freakshow has a little boy toy. This is going to be FUN.'_

The word 'freakshow' immediately caught my attention. I glanced up to see Matthew Compton strolling over to the table where the new boy and girl were sitting. Matty, as the rest of the school knew him, thought he was the epitome of cool. Mostly, he was just an idiot. I had to sit next to him in World History last year, and I constantly had to keep myself from laughing aloud at his useless brain trying to process the lessons. I listened intently as he leaned up against a chair, blocking the new girl from my vision.

"Oh, is this your little boyfriend, freak?" He said to the girl.

_'I swear on all that is holy if he does not leave me the hell alone I'm gonna... '_

I heard her take in a long breath.

"Get the fuck away from me you buffoon." She spat at him.

Well, at least she wasn't a pushover. Most people cower down to Matty like he is a god or something. It was refreshing.

"Ooooh, touchy touchy. If you weren't such a freak all that fiestiness might actually be a bit of fun." He chuckled loudly as he walked away. _'_

_That's it. That's the last goddamn straw. His blood will flow before he can even have a chance to whimper...'_

I could see her again. Her eyes were closed, and she looked as tho she were hyperventilating. I saw that her hands were clenched into tight fists, trembling with what I could only assume was pure rage.

"Relax, Arshes. He isn't worth your spit. Don't let him get to you."

The boy whispered so softly to her that I had to strain to hear it over the drone of the lunchroom chatter. She opened her eyes as she took another deep breath. Her eyes fluttered over to Matty's table, and I swear I could her her laugh. 

_'Ha! Perfect!'_, She thought.

This struck me as odd after the fury that had just been evident in her face.

I was just glancing over to the other table when I heard the boy announce sharply, "What are you..." A slight pause, _'Oh My God... '_ a gasp, and then "No. Are you fucking KIDDING ME? There are people - _everywhere_. Someone is BOUND to notice. I mean come _ON_ are you seriously gonna waste your energy on HIM?"

I was baffled. I couldn't understand what he was getting at.

"No one will know it was me. There isn't anyone even paying attention." She murmured.

I was absolutely dumbfounded. I was about to start searching her thoughts again when it happened. I watched as her eyes squinted ever so slightly. In my perfect peripheral vision I watched incredulously as an empty lunch tray sitting on the table behind Matty flew into the air of its own accord and smacked him right in the head.

_'YES! Direct hit! DAMN that felt fucking good!'_

I stared, unable to believe what I had just witnessed and heard, directly into the girls face.

_Did she..... could she really have.... Impossible...._

"What the Fuck!!" Matty screamed as he spun around.

I couldn't move my eyes from the girl. Suddenly she moved to grab her soda, open it, and bring it to her lips. The action itself did not shock me, but the inhuman speed in which she did it, causing her hand and soda bottle to blur slightly, made my entire body go stiff. 

_It isn't... possible..._

I tried to deny it to myself. My brain did not want to register it as true.

"Take a picture why don't you?!" Matty was finally settling back into his seat, but I couldn't focus on him.

_'Aw shit. This is gonna be bad. We're gonna get exposed and then have to disappear to Pakistan or some shit. I love Arsh and all, but that damn temper of hers...'_

The boy was going on and on in his head.

I had words and phrases repeating over and over in my mind.

_Exposed....... Have to disappear.... BLOOD WILL FLOW_

I refused to accept it. It just was not so. I slammed my eyelids shut and desperately tried to focus and calm my thoughts down. I heard a chair shift to my side. Jasper was feeling my panic, I knew it. Then, another voice rang inside my mind. 

_'Oh My God. Arshes, what the fuck have you done? How could you?? Do you want to expose us for what we are, is that it? Do you want the entire town to find out the new neighbors are a bunch of blood-sucking Vampires???_'

It was the redhead.

My eyes flew open and my body went completely rigid. There was no denying it now.

"Edward..." Jasper breathed cautiously. He was in a half crouched, half standing position. There was no masking my panic and shock, and he could feel it.

And as if just to hammer the nail into the coffin, the girl across from me thought '_Just remember that I could have done a whole lot worse_'.

A loud, frightened gasp escaped from my lips. I had no chance of stopping it. Every member of my family's eyes were on me, and my hands started to tremble. Again the girls thoughts invaded my brain as she looked at the boy next to her. 

_'What's wrong with you? I didn't actually hurt him'. _

She must have heard my gasp, because when she looked at him and realized he did not make the sound, she slowly lifted her head. Her eyes met mine for the first time since she walked into the lunchroom. There were a warm, honey tone. 

_'EDWARD!! What is WRONG??!!'_ Alice was screaming at me with her thoughts. I did not take my gaze off the girl. I was utterly transfixed.

"We have a serious problem." I barked through my clenched teeth.

"What the hell is the matter with you Edward?" Emmett was agitated by my behavior. "What problem?"

"The problem, is that the new kids are not _kids_. They are some of our own. There are three more vampires at Forks High School."

Four strained gasps came from my siblings simultaneously as they all slowly turned to face the problem head on.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

TNR: PHEW!!! That was a tough chapter to write. So, seems Arshes blew her family's cover. But what could this mean for them? Reviewing lets me know if I should continue! ^_^


	5. Worlds Collide

_**Twilight and it's characters are not mine. They are Stephenie Meyer's. Maybe i can talk her into letting them come over to play!**_

Author's Notes: The song for this chapter is _Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)_ by Concrete Blonde

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_There's a crack in the mirror and a blood stain on the bed  
You were a Vampire and baby I'm walking dead  
I got the ways and means to New Orleans  
I'm going down by the river where it's warm and green  
I'm gonna have a drink and walk around  
I've got a lot to think about Oh yeah_

Worlds Collide

I was a solid granite sculpture. I couldn't move. I couldn't breath. I sat absolutely unmoving staring into a pair of eyes that mirrored my own.

Shock. Fear. Denial. Topaz in color. Dark, bruise-like circles.

We sat staring each other down for what felt like an eternity. Neither one of us so much as blinked. How did I not notice this sooner? How did I miss what seemed to be five mature vampires sitting mere feet away from where I sat? And if there were five sitting in front of me, obviously that meant that there were more somewhere, trying to keep up pretenses of being the upstanding parental figures of the group. This was very, very bad.

Was I so caught up in my own little bubble that I had completely missed their scent? Why had they not noticed ours? My mind kept continued racing with questions. I could only come up with a couple of loose explanations as to why these vampires did not catch our scent sooner. Maybe they have been away from other vampires for so long that they just didn't pick up on the new scent. Maybe with all these humans all packed so close together in the room our scent just wasn't strong enough to register with them. I took a deep breath through my nose. Now that I was painfully aware of their presence, I could just catch the new, different scent of them in the air, but faintly. My second guess was likely right. The large number of humans was muffling the scent.

As I continued to stare, panic evident in my features, the remaining four sets of eyes darted to my face. My fingertips dug into the table beneath me. Sebastian looked up as if he was about to say something to me and saw the sheer terror in my face.

"Arsh, what's wrong?" He inched towards me.

I couldn't bring myself to speak. Sebastian looked down at my hands and saw the indentions my fingers were beginning to carve into the surface.

"Arshes! What is it? What is the matter with you?" His hand reached for mine and i jumped at his touch. My eyes never left the ones boring into my skull.

I immediately started to think of ways that I could cause a distraction so that my siblings and I could flee. The only feasible thing I came up with that would divert their attention long enough was to flip the table they were sitting at with my mind. I could just flip it over and grab Sebastian and Sasha's hand and run as fast as my body would allow me. I could explain everything to them once we were running.

Just then a low hiss came from the boy watching me and his hands grasped the table in front of him desperately.

_What the.... _My eyes narrowed.

It was like I had said my plan aloud and he was bracing himself for it. How can that be?

From the corner of my eye, I saw Sebastian's head snap up instantly and look directly where my eyes were fixed. He had heard the hissing sound. His grip on my hand tightened forcibly. Had I been a mortal, every bone in my hand would have been pulverized.

"We have to get out of here. NOW!" Sebastian breathed in my ear. "We have to leave."

I stiffly shifted my head to the right, then to left, and back to center slowly, never changing the direction of my gaze.

His eyes flashed to my face. "What do you mean _No_? Cause a distraction or something. Throw a chair at them, a table, something. You do that while i grab Sasha and we run for it." His voice was barely even a whisper.

The boys eyes darted to Sebastian, tightening his grip on the table.

"I can't." My voice was shaking violently. "He knows."

"What do you mean _He knows_??? This is no time to flip on me Arshes. We need to get the hell away from here."

"I don't know how he knows, 'Bastian, but _HE KNOWS_. My first instinct was to get us out of here, but its like he sensed it. Look at him! There's no way I can move that table with him holding it and you know it!"

Sebastian was practically panting. "Look, all i know is we are being stared down by five other vampires in a room full of people. This can only end catastrophically if we do not get ourselves out of here pronto!" He was so frantic his words were running together as he spoke.

Finally breaking my gaze, i looked down at the table and started to breath in as deeply as my emotions would allow. The only possible chance was to try and make a calm, quiet retreat and hope they didn't follow.

"Alright. We are going to calmly stand up, get Sasha, and walk out. If we cause a scene it will only make things that much worse. It's obvious they aren't wanting to threaten exposure any more than we do. There is no other explanation for any of us still sitting here. If they follow us, so be it. At least then we will be away from any civilians and I will have more ammo if needed. Let's do what we can to get back to the house and tell Myra and Lawrence. They will know what to do."

I looked into Sebastian's eyes and read the worry in them. He swallowed deeply and gave a sharp nod.

I began to slowly push back from the table in my chair. Sebastian was already to his feet, ready to take a defensive stance in front of me at the first sign of danger. I shifted my sight back to the boy sitting across from me, and saw that he was staring intently at me again. His posture had relaxed infinitesimally. Cautiously, I rose to me feet. Sebastian brought his face so close to my face that I could feel his ragged breath on my ear.

"Once we get to the door I am going to walk over and grab Sasha. You run as fast as you can towards the house. We wont be far behind you." I nodded.

We made our way towards the door as normally as our nerves would allow. Once we were in front of it, Sebastian gave a quick upwards nod in its direction and headed towards where Sasha was sitting. I turned to walk out, and chanced a glance to where the five strangers were sitting. Panic rose in me again when I saw that only FOUR were still at the table. The boy that had been watching me was gone. I bolted, running so fast my feet barely skimmed the ground. When I had just reached the trees that surrounded the school, I heard rustling of leaves behind me. I was being followed.

My body began shaking relentlessly with fear. I pushed myself faster, but I could feel the presence behind me gaining. Without even looking back, I took sideways glances with every step. Trees started to groan and crash to the ground in my wake. I could only pray that devastation I was leaving would give me the edge I needed to make it.

"Goddamnit, Arshes, STOP THAT!" Sasha was roaring at me from behind. I skidded to a stop and finally turned around.

Sasha and Sebastian closed the gap and stopped. Sebastian was continually searching the area around us to be sure we were alone. Sasha was still livid, I could tell by the way she was staring at me.

"What in the flying fuck was that back there, huh? Are you seriously so oblivious that you think it's _OKAY_ to do those kinds of things in a building full of humans? What if someone caught on?! Do you have any idea how much trouble you may have just brought down on our heads?" Her lack of remaining breath caused her to stop her verbal assault on me.

I looked at Sebastian. "You didn't tell her, did you?" I asked.

"No. I didn't have a chance." He was still frantically scanning the area, not meeting my gaze.

"Tell me what?" Sasha looked from me to Sebastian and back again. "What's going on?"

I took a deep, steadying breath. "Some one did catch on. I fear that the trouble you are so worried about is far worse than us merely being exposed."

Sasha's jaw dropped slightly. "Start explaining. NOW!"

I slowly disclosed what I had witnessed, Sebastian filling in his count of the events here and there. The look in Sasha's eyes was frightening.

"Are you absolutely sure about this? You realize we are going to have to confront Myra and Lawrence with this. This could jeopardize everything!"

"I know, Sasha. I know."

It was silent for a few moments before Sebastian spoke. "We need to get home, fast. There is no telling where the one male went as we were leaving."

We all nodded, and ran back to the house. I wasn't even paying enough attention to notice what cars were in the driveway. I burst through the doorway. "Houston, we have a problem! A _SERIOUS_ problem. Myra... Lawrence..." I yelled.

As I turned the corner into the kitchen, I saw Myra and Lawrence standing at the small island counter in the middle of the kitchen looking as if I had interrupted some sort of meeting. Once I was completely in the room, I stopped dead in my tracks, realizing what I had walked in on.

Across the room from them stood three people. One was a man. Blonde, good looking, probably in his late twenties or early thirties. Another was a small, dark-haired woman. The man had an arm around her waist.

The sight of the third person made every muscle in my body freeze instantly. He was a young, bronze haired boy. He stood tall and lean, with his arms folded across his chest. I knew him the second I laid my eyes on him.

It was the boy that I had been watching in the lunchroom.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

TNR: Reviews make me happy!!!! ^_^


	6. Bad Attitude

**I don't own anything. Not Twilight. Not it's characters. Stephenie Meyer does. She's awesome like that.**

Author's Notes: This chapter's song is _Animal I Have Become_ by Three Days Grace

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_So what if you can see  
The darkest side of me  
No one will ever change this animal I have become  
Help me believe  
It's not the real me  
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become_

**Bad Attitude**

"Ah, Arshes. I was wondering when you would show up. Where are your brother and sister?" Myra looked at me with a raised eyebrow as she spoke.

"We are here Myra." Sasha's voice rang cheerfully through the room as she glided to Myra's side, always playing the role of the beautiful, loving daughter. It made me want to wretch. Sebastian calmly, but cautiously strolled in after her, taking a spot at the island a few steps in front of me. He said nothing.

"Children, these are our new neighbors; Carlisle, Esme, and Edward Cullen." Lawrence gestured to each as he spoke their names. His use of the term children made me scoff slightly. "These are our children; Sasha, Sebastian, and Arshes." He looked at me sternly as he said my name.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Carlisle said warmly. "I must apologize if Edward's actions alarmed you today. It simply isn't often we are met with more of our kind in Forks, let alone enrolled in school. I can assure you that we bare no ill will towards any of you." Carlisle seemed sincere.

"Nonsense, Carlisle! There is no need to apologize. Given the circumstances, I am elated that things went as smoothly as they did." Myra always was one to put on a show. She was almost shameless in her flirtatious tone.

Esme smiled. "How are you all liking Forks? I'm sure it must be quite a change from Dallas."

Sasha bounced a little as she spoke. "It's absolutely wonderful! Such a freedom to be able to move about during the daytime hours. Being confined to nightlife was so taxing."

I chuckled humorlessly. "Speak for yourself." I muttered to myself without thinking.

Every set of eyes focused on my face. Myra and Lawrence looked positively livid. Carlisle and Esme seemed sympathetic. Sasha looked as annoyed with me as ever. Sebastian still looked completely on edge. Edward looked intrigued. He was looking at me as if I were a puzzle that he desperately wanted to solve. It was a bit unnerving.

"Arshes, the least you can do is TRY to act polite in front of our guests. I mean honestly, if you can't say anything remotely civil, then by all means hold your tongue!" Lawrence spat at me.

"Why should I hold my tongue? It isn't like they are a bunch of humans that I need to pretend for. You tend to forget that I didn't even want to come here. I was perfectly happy in Dallas. I have every reason to not act all chipper and charming. So what exactly is the point of trying?" My hands were starting to shake again. Lawrence had that effect on me.

His tawny eyes flashed with anger and repulsion. "If you insist on having that atrocious attitude in the presence of our guests, then maybe you should just leave the room and spare us all." He pointedly looked down at my trembling hands.

"You know what, Lawrence? I can do even better than that. I'll leave the entire house. I need to go get my baby from back at the school anyway." My voice was heavily laced with venom. I can't stand when he gets all authoritative on me.

"Oh, please, let's not get excited. No one needs to leave. There is no reason for anyone to be upset. We aren't here to cause any trouble. We simply wanted to extend our welcome and to get to know you all better." Esme spoke with a soft, kind tone. This calmed me a little.

I sighed. "No, really, I do need to go and get my car anyway. It is probably best that I go get it and take the time to calm down." I glanced in Lawrence's direction. "It's not a good idea for me to get too irritated."

"Edward, why don't you accompany her? You two can take the time to get better acquainted." Carlisle responded.

"Er... I'm not so sure that's a good..." Sebastian spoke this time. His body shifted slightly in front of me, as if to shield me again.

"Look, it doesn't matter to me, I just want to get my car." I stated, worried that lunkhead from Economics may decide to act on his earlier threat.

"Edward?" Carlisle was looking at him now.

Edward merely shrugged and took a step away from the counter he was leaning on.

I turned to head out the front door, but paused and looked back at everyone. "It was nice to meet you all."

"And you as well, Arshes." Esme smiled brightly. "We will have to get together again so you can meet the rest of our family properly."

I gave a half smile at her, then walked to the front of the house with Edward silently trailing behind me.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**SPOV**

I watched intently as Arshes left with this Edward guy. I did not like it one bit. This guy is a total stranger. Yes, his eyes show that he follows our type of lifestyle, but we have absolutely no clue what this dude is capable of. I mean, he had hissed at her, after all. And, how exactly did he 'know' what Arshes was planning on doing in the lunchroom? It all just made me feel terribly uneasy.

"Maybe I should go with them." I muttered.

"Don't be silly." Myra chirped. "They will be just fine on their own. I'm sure Edward will be on his best behavior. Besides, you know as well as anyone that Arshes is fully capable of taking care of herself." She gave me a knowing grin.

"Yeah. I guess." About that she was right. Arshes was the most capable out of anyone in this room to take care of any type of threat. Her talent is the entire reason Lawrence puts up with her. That and he has a sick thing for her. We all know it, even Arshes.

Arshes has confided in me before about wanting to branch out on her own. She even asked me to go with her. I can't really say now why I didn't agree. There is really nothing of circumstance keeping me here. Sure, I get along with everyone, but none of them really connect with me. Not like Arshes does. She is like the true sister I never had as a mortal. Sasha likes to joke that I have more than brotherly love for her, and, truth be told, at one time I may have. In the end though, after getting to know her better, I realized her and I connected in a kindred spirit type of way. She looked out for me, and I her.

I know it would probably be most beneficial for here to leave this coven. Myra and Lawrence always push her to her breaking point, and they do it purposely. Maybe we should go on our own. Who knows, it might even be fun.

"Sebastian, are you alright dear?" Esme asked, breaking me of my thought processes.

"Oh. Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little overwhelmed is all."

"Yes, I can understand that. This is all very exciting. I'm sure it is tough on you and your sisters to be starting over. Especially poor Arshes. She seems to be taking it quite hard." Esme frowned slightly. "I hope you all know that you are always more than welcome in our home. I just know the rest of the family will be delighted to get to know you all better."

Her tone was one of welcome and love, nothing like what I came to expect from Myra.

"Thank you. I appreciate that very much, as I'm sure Arshes will too. I hope you aren't offended by her behavior today. This is all just going to take her some time to adjust to." I spoke directly to Esme, not caring about the way Lawrence was rolling his eyes at my words.

"Of course. We take no offense in the least." She chimed.

"Well, if no one minds, I am going to go up to my room and try to wind down some. I do have some homework I should work on and all." It was the best excuse I could muster, though poor as it were. Homework would take me a mere few minutes to complete.

Carlisle spoke now. "Yes, of course. Please don't let us keep you. It was very nice to meet you, Sebastian. I look forward to seeing you again." He smiled. I like these two already. I only hope that Arshes will warm to them as well.

With that, I nodded and headed up to my room. Once there I stood in front of the window, debating whether or not to stay as everyone suggested, or jump from the house and follow after Arshes and Edward. Not only do I want to make sure Arches was safe, but I have so many questions burning in my mind for Edward. I'm not all too sure he will be willing to answer me just yet though. He seemed peaceful enough in the kitchen earlier, but he also did not exactly put off the aura of 'warm welcome' either. The more I think on it, the more my nerves get to me.

After another moment of deliberation, I slid my window open and pounced down to the ground, running at a leisurely pace back towards the school parking lot.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**TNR: **Ok, so nothing too overly dramatic in this chapter, but some dialogue and a bit of info. Yes, Lawrence and Myra are jerks, and trust me when I say You Aint Seen Nothin Yet. Don't give up just yet on Sasha tho.... she may surprise you.

Next chapter will be a good one I hope, as it will be the scene between Arshes and Edward when going to get her car.

Reviews make my fingers want to dance across the keyboard!!

Also, I want to apologize for this chapter taking so long to be posted. wasn't even letting me log in for quite a few days. Hopefully they have the issue fixed. Thanks for your patience!


	7. Understanding

**Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. Twilight owns me. 'Nuff Said.**

The song for this chapter is _Remedy_ by Seether

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_If you want me hold me back  
Frail, the skin is dry and pale,  
The pain will never fail  
And so we go back to the remedy  
Clip the wings that get you high,  
Just leave them where they lie  
And tell yourself, "You'll be the death of me"_

**Understanding**

I paid little attention to Edward as I stalked out of the house. In the back of my mind, I knew I should be more mindful of him though. My back was completely unguarded, fully open to him if he were to decide to attack. I quickly dismissed these thoughts however. If he had wanted a fight, he had ample opportunities to engage in one.

No, my mind was more occupied in trying to keep my calm and getting as far away from the house as possible. It was very careless of me to let Lawrence get the better of my emotions. He had a gift for bringing out the worst in me.

"Does he really irritate you THAT badly?" Edward asked, a slight chuckle to his words.

I froze. Had I said my thoughts out loud? Surely he was just assuming from the altercation in the house about my disdain for Lawrence. It really wasn't all that hard to figure out. I slowly turned to face him, my brow furrowed with confusion.

He stood a few feet behind me, a glorious crooked half smile on his face. His arms were lightly crossed across his chest.

I took this moment to thoroughly look him over for the first time. He was exquisite. He was tall and lean, yet muscular. His hair, the most beautiful shade of bronze I had ever seen, was wild and untamed, pointing in every direction. He was devastatingly attractive, even to vampire standards. The sight of him would make my heart skip a beat if it were not long dead.

Edward shifted uncomfortably, his smile slowly fading.

"You have NO idea." I stated.

"Care to indulge me?" His smile had returned.

I looked away and glowered in the direction of the house. "Lawrence isn't exactly a topic I relish in discussing."

I turned again and started walking. If this guy thought he was going to learn all the ins and outs of the royally fucked up situation I had with Lawrence in our first conversation, he was sorely mistaken.

"It's okay. I'm quite sure I will find out eventually."

"Well aren't you a cocky one?" I snapped. "And just why do you think I would deem you privileged enough to open up to that freely?"

I would never admit it aloud, but something about this guy made me feel very at ease. I had only felt this comfortable with one other person, and it took years for me to get that way with 'Bastian.

Edward smirked. "I have my ways." He was walking a foot or two beside me now, hands in his jean pockets.

I glanced at him with narrowed eyes. "Care to indulge me?" I repeated his own words sarcastically.

He thought on this for a moment, and sighed. "I'm afraid that if I do, I will give up every advantage I have on you." He eyed me tentatively to gage my reaction. I had tensed a bit reflexively. He continued cautiously. "However, you intrigue me Arshes. I'm afraid if I do not indulge you, that I will never get you to open up. For reasons I can not begin to fathom, I want you to."

This confused me. "You don't even know me."

"Yes! That is exactly my point. I don't know you..." He paused "...but I think I want to know you."

I stared at him confoundedly. I had not even met him more than 20 minutes ago, and yet he wanted to get to know me. What scared me is that I, too, wanted to get to know him.

We were silent for a few minutes, still walking through the woods towards where I had left my car.

"Well?" I asked quietly.

He sighed again, resigned. I worried then that maybe he had some ability to torture people and make them talk.

He laughed. "No, I don't torture people. You don't need to fear me."

I gasped at his statement and stared at him wide eyed. "How..." Comprehension hit me as soon as the word fell from my lips. Edward could hear my thoughts.

He smiled and nodded. "Yes, I am a mind reader. Pretty handy trick when you encounter possible threats. It allows me to know the intentions of people before they are acted out." He looked at me pointedly.

It all began to make sense.

"So that's why you reacted the way you did. You heard when I moved the tray. You heard me thinking about turning your table over. No wonder you hissed at me!" I laughed a bit. The tension seemed to dissipate with this knowledge.

"Yes." He said, sounding repentant. "I do apologize for that. In hindsight I realize there were no ill intentions on your part. You were simply trying to protect your family. I would have done the same in your position."

I smiled at him. "Well, you sort of did."

The crooked smile returned to his face. "I suppose I did."

"Well, now you know more about my ability. Your turn." He watched me expectantly.

"I'm a mind mover." I answered quickly. There really wasn't a lot to tell in my opinion.

"I am well aware of that." He rolled his eyes playfully at me. "What I mean is, how does it work. Can you move anything, or do you have limits?"

"I can move anything within my line of sight. I haven't come across anything that I could see that I couldn't move."

He cocked his head at this. "Anything? Even people?"

My answer was hesitant. "I have never attempted to move a human. Vampires, however..." I paused. "Vampires I can move. It takes more effort, especially when they try to resist, but I can move them."

"So you have had need to move a vampire before." It came out as a statement, not a question.

"Yes."

"May I ask who?"

I didn't answer him. I have had to forcefully move Lawrence away from me more times than I care to remember. He wasn't the only one, but he was the one I had to the most.

"Ah. I see." He said, keeping me from having to say it aloud.

"Can you move things gracefully, or does it always end up forceful?"

"It doesn't always end up violently, if that's what you are meaning. It's actually quite handy when I am at the computer and don't feel like getting up."

He chuckled lightly. "Yes, I know that feeling well. Most of the time I find myself despising having to hear peoples thoughts. There are other times that I quite enjoy it though. It makes having a private conversation easy amongst many people."

_Not to mention making it easier to be incredibly sneaky._ I thought.

He laughed louder at this. "Yes, it does."

We had reached the parking lot by then. It was still packed full of cars as school had yet to let out. As we approached my Raven, Edward tensed some and looked towards the buildings.

"If you aren't quite ready for the Washington Inquisition you are likely to heed from the rest of my family, you may want to go ahead and go back to your house."

I looked at him questioningly.

"School is about to be out, and my sister is so eager to meet you and bombard you with questions that she is practically bouncing out of her chair." He rolled his eyes.

"You can hear her all the way out here?" I asked skeptically.

He smiled at my tone. "I can hear anyone within a mile or two."

"Wow." I breathed as I moved to the driver's side door.

I stood there for a moment, wondering when I would see him again.

He looked at me and smiled. "We have school together, Arshes. You and Sebastian are welcome to join us at lunch if you like. Besides, I'm sure my brothers and sisters will be dieing to meet all of you. Particularly Alice."

It didn't go unnoticed that he had neglected to mention Sasha in his lunchtime invitation, and for that I was grateful.

"Speaking of Sebastian," he added, "You may want to stop just outside the parking lot here and pick him up. Seems he followed behind to make sure I didn't harm you in any way."

I gave an irritated sigh and muttered, "You'd swear I was an invalid or something."

He laughed and began walking towards the shiny silver Volvo I had seen this morning. So that was HIS car.

"I will see you tomorrow, Arshes." He said as he waved.

"Yeah... tomorrow." I said under my breath, though I was sure he heard it.

I opened the door to my car and slid in. I started the engine and quickly made my way out of the parking lot, stopping just outside on the street as Edward had suggested. Sure enough, Sebastian peeked out of the trees, looked around cautiously, and walked to the car and got in.

"Why were you following me?" I growled at him as I pounded on the gas pedal. I hated feeling like a child, and his pursuing me made me feel like just that.

"Relax, Arsh. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He said, cowering a bit.

"I can take care of myself, you know." I spat, still irritated.

"I know you can. Sorry, I was just worried." He lowered his head in shame, and I immediately felt bad. I shouldn't be snapping at him like this. He was the only one that truly cared about me.

"Alright." I sighed. "I forgive you. Just don't make it a habit, okay?"

"I'll try." He joked. "So, what do you make of this Edward guy? Am I gonna have to bust some heads?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "There you go again. Not even 5 seconds has passed."

He smiled apologetically at me.

"No, there will be no need to bust any heads. He was surprisingly pleasant."

He watched me expectantly. "Well?!? Let's hear it! What happened?"

If Edward thought I was spared from the third degree by leaving before his siblings caught up to me, he was very wrong.

"Can we talk about it later? A LOT has happened, and frankly, I am spent. I really just want to get up to my room and relax some and let all this stuff sink in."

He looked at me with bigger eyes than any anime could possibly have, batting his eyelashes.

"Nuh uh. That's not going to work this time. I seriously need to let my mind settle. Okay?"

He sighed, defeated. "Fine. But you better believe I am the FIRST one to hear about it. Understand?"

"Yeah, yeah." I said, waving my hand at him.

With that, I cranked up the stereo, letting the sounds of Lacuna Coil reverberate off the windows, as we sped back to the house.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**TNR: _Ok, this chapter flew once I was able to sit down and actually write. I hope it is up to expectations._**

_**Next, we hear from our favorite brooding vamp. Edward's PoV is next, and Alice will be relentless, I'm sure!**_

_**Reviewing gives my muse more energy to feed me creative thoughts!!**_


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